While Memorial Day serves to recognize veterans we have lost, the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Iowa City VA Health Care System seek to support disabled veterans with the National Disabled Veterans TEE Tournament.

TEE stands for Training, Exposure, and Experience. TEE Tournament Director Kirt Sickels tells how this event began, “Actually there was four visually impaired veterans that came to the Iowa City VA and spoke to the director and some other folks at that time and said that they wanted to be more active and they wanted to take charge with their health and wellness. So they got together and looked at what they could do, and actually two of the veterans really loved to play golf. And when they became visually impaired they hadn’t been able to golf and they said, ‘Well Why? Why can’t we golf?’ Well there’s no reason why you can’t golf. Can’t is a word that we just don’t use, so from that point on we started putting together a golf program for our visually impaired with instruction and the whole nine yards to help keep them active.”

This golf tournament has been going on locally for 24 years, and in 2007 it gained attention nationally and became a national event for disabled veterans. The event is open to veterans with a range of disabilities from amputees to post traumatic stress disorder. Sickels says they also introduce attendees to other activities, “We try to give them some training during the event, expose them to new things. Also during the event we do other activities. We have what we call a health and wellness day which is on Wednesday of the week, which we expose them to other things such as adaptive kayaking, adaptive biking, horseback riding, pontoon boat fishing. Several other events to expose them and just to let them know that again, there are other opportunities for them to do and to keep their health and wellness in front of them.”

Two hundred and sixty one veterans are invited from 41 states to attend golf events at various courses including the Kalona Golf Course and the Blue Top Golf Course in Riverside. Sickels says he also hopes to use the Washington golf course. The program will take place September 11-15.